Acceptably Reliable
by DogsAreOkay
Summary: A series of Ancient Greek themed murders brings Dr. Chey Griffiths under the BAU's radar, a stubborn woman who thinks she can solve it all on her own. How will the people hating, animal loving mysophobe who's never been interested in men feel when she meets Spencer Reid. The only person who completely understands her irrationality?
1. Chapter 1

Reid walked into the darkened basement with his gun drawn, rushing down the steps with Derek closely behind, "CLEAR," they holstered their weapons and stared at the room before them. At the centre of the rotting walls was a life-sized bronze bull with a fire roaring underneath it, now he knew what the smell was. Derek ripped a fire extinguisher from a wooden pillar next to a table scattered with books and letters while Reid ran his index finger down several of the covers, Greek mythology, just like the last crime scene. But this time it was different, the un-sub didn't have time to clear out all the evidence, the letters on the table in the corner of the small room were all hand written. Pulling on blue latex gloves, Reid pushed back his hair and began reading, they all seemed to have some sort of obsession with a woman, probably his next target,"Hey Reid, take a look at this," Derek signalled Spencer to the bull without taking his eyes off of it, he pried open a large door on the length of the bull with a crowbar. It hit the ground releasing steam and the fowl stench of burned flesh. They both looked in horror as a seemingly immolated body rolled lifelessly out of the opening and made a soft 'squelch' sound on the concrete. Reid and Derek shared a look, the un-sub had evolved , this time resorting to extreme torture," Any ideas?" Derek questioned while turning away from the spectacle and walking back up the stairs,

"Uh, yes actually. In Ancient Greece they would use a torture method called the 'Sicilian Bull' in which they would place a criminal inside and light a fire underneath to burn them alive. Because of the hollow brass their screams would sound like bull noises, that must be what the neighbours heard," It was so confusing to Reid, it was a high risk area for torture and yet he still got away with it. All the crimes had something to do with Ancient Greece, bloodless crucifixion, forced suicide, and now this. The only links between the victims was their knowledge of Ancient Greece and they were highly intelligent. No criminal record, nothing that would make them deserve what they'd been sentenced to. They walked out of the house to give the Forensics team time to work when Hotch called them over,

"I had Garcia search for people similar to our victims in the area and we got a hit, Garcia send them the address," He had heavy bags under his eyes and looked worn, the un-sub wasn't giving the team any time to rest,

"Gotcha sir!" with a few keyboard clicks Reid's cellphone buzzed and Hotch continued,

"Her name is Chey Griffiths, a Doctor with several PhDs and masters degrees including biochemistry, history, English, psychology and is highly knowledgeable about Ancient Greece. She lives in a high risk area but that won't stop him, Reid I want you and J.J to go there right away, the un-sub is meticulous and controlled, he'll wait until he kills again." J.J nodded at Reid and led them both to the SUV parked in the small street, he looked over her profile and was surprised. She was overly qualified to be a marine biologist, it also seemed she moved to America to become a professor at Harvard, but some of her file was missing. Her early 20s was completely gone, Garcia couldn't access that part of her history. Hopefully they wouldn't need it.

It took them 20 minutes of driving and throwing theories back and forth before they reached the address, it was a simple white stone bungalow with a large garden, it was an upper class area. There was a motorcycle in the brick driveway behind a small black gate. The curtains were completely shut around the house and there was no sign of any distress or residents inside. J.J was the first to walk through the gate and knock on the oak door, it took a moment for the door to open to reveal a 5'3 woman with long brown hair and dyed green tips. She had blue eyes to complement her pale complexion and a curvy figure clad in black jeans and a grey turtle neck jumper, "Hi Dr. Griffiths, I'm SSA Jennifer Jareau and this is Dr. Spender Reid, we're with the FBI and we'd like to ask you a few questions," J.J and Reid both presented their badges, Chey inspected them quickly and deduced that they were no threat,

"Sure," she moved aside to let them in, Reid noted that she didn't look or sound surprised. She didn't fidget or show signs of nervousness, it was odd. The Doctor walked them to a room with a couple of white love seats and matching armchairs. The decor was mostly white and pastel colours, a modern minimalist theme, "Can I get you anything?" she wrung her hands together and when they refused she sat down comfortably, reaching for a bottle of hand sanitiser, applying it and returning it to the table. They were all over the house. Reid also noted that there were sharp objects almost strategically placed on tables, but in positions where she could easily grab them and defend herself, smart. J.J leaned forward slightly,

"Dr. Griffiths," J.J put on a warm smile and continued,"I'm sure you're aware of the recent murders of three professors," She paused and waited for a response, she watched Chey for any physical change. She was good at keeping her face neutral, however J.J did notice her sit up slightly and use her foot to casually push something under her seat. It was subtle, but they were profilers.

"You think I'm next, don't you?" Chey took a deep breath, she knew she was next. But she still hoped that her suspicions would be ill met. Reid also leaned forward and continued on for J.J,

"Yes we do, Dr. Griffiths, and so do you," Reid saw the tell-tale signs, she was a smart woman, her knowledge about Ancient Greece could have made her a suspect, but with her small build it wasn't likely. Her eyes widened slightly. They'd been there less than 5 minutes and he read her like a book. She cursed herself for not packing up her research somewhere other than under a seat.

"You're mistaken," Spencer's eyes narrowed, Dr. Griffiths was challenging him. He stood up and casually walked around the room,

"For one, you have weapons in easily accessible places, you have multiple locks on all the entrances to your house, my current count is 12, and you kicked something under your chair like you don't want us to see it. Not to mention the Greek Mythology books piled up on the table next to you," he finished in a matter-of-factly tone and a smug look on his face, he turned to face her, she looked slightly taken back. Chey got up from her seat to look at the opposing doctor, she would admit that he earned his title, the way he phrased things called for a high I.Q, she could respect that.

"Look," Chey began, she didn't want the FBI to ruin her plans to catch her killer, them just being in her house compromised her research into him, "I _may_ know...of some things, I _could_ have been aware that I'm on his radar and it's _possible_ that I've been looking into it bu-"

"How long have you know?" He interrupted her, she didn't expect that question,

"When the killings started, I thought it was a fluke. But by the second I knew," She stopped and looked blank for a second, contemplating something. When she heard of the killing method she went to see herself. She drove to the building and looked at the back entrance. On a wall of graffiti was a scruffily drawn owl. She would have forgotten about it if it was at any other crime scene. But she knew this was relevant, it was referring to Athena. The un-sub could've symbolised any God but they chose Athena. It was no coincidence that a month after Chey moved the killings started, and then Athena, the killer was leaving her clues. He wanted her to find him, but she needed to work for it. She was so close to finding him too, she knew so much and she just needed one more thing. One more clue and she would have him. She couldn't let anyone get in the way of that, she couldn't let anyone else die. Griffiths continued, almost ignoring her previous statement,"I'm sorry Dr. Reid, I've told you everything I know, you should investigate elsewhere," she sounded sincere as she locked eyes with the taller man. He stole a glance at J.J who stood up and made her way to the door,

"Thank you, Dr. Griffiths, make sure to stay available in case we need to contact you," Reid looked between the two women, and then made his was to leave. Dr. Griffiths was holding back. She knew a lot more than she was giving away. Once they were back in the SUV Spencer turned to his partner," She knows something J.J," he couldn't hide the anger in his voice, he couldn't believe how stupid people could be,"We need to get in there and see what she has, we should get a warrant,"

"She thinks she can catch the killer herself, she thinks we'll compromise her. She might have been to the previous crime scenes, but she hasn't been to the third. Dr. Griffiths wants to help, Spence, she _is_ smart. We just need to force her a little."


	2. Chapter 2

Chey stood in front her evidence board with folded her arms, she transformed her guest bedroom into a temp office for her to work. She'd been careful enough not to go to the third crime scene for two days, it was safer if she waited. Books were hastily strewn over her wooden desk filled with scruffy notes and pictures she'd managed to take concerning the case. At this point she'd memorised them.

She huffed and meandered out of the dimly lit room, she was sick of waiting and the un-sub probably was too,"I should go," Chey often talked to herself...well, more like weighed her options openly and consulted herself, but talking none the less,"No, no I can't," she let out an exasperated sigh,"Those freaking detectives! I can't believe they were here all of five minutes and now I'm second guessing myself. Fucking doctors," she hoisted herself up on the kitchen counter and let her head fall into her hands. It was stupid, tremendously stupid, it wasn't a crime nor was it a bad thing to go check out a crime scene in her area, of course she could go. She snatched her trusty hand sanitiser from beside her and squeezed it into her hands, then grabbed her note book and shoved it into her backpack while rushing out the door. Chey swung her leg over her sleek black motorcycle and revved the engine, smiling at the resounding purr, the crime scene was 15 minutes away if she took stop signs out of the equation.

Griffiths parked her bike a street away from the scene and casually walked, if she didn't look suspicious then no one would give her a second glance. The street lights gave her just enough vision to get to where she needed to be, but just enough cover to not be spotted by any bystanders. She crouched behind a car to survey the garden, it was too late for anyone to actively be there, but there could be patrols, it was a risk she was willing to take. The Doctor stretched into a standing position and slowly walked towards the hazard tape, lifting it and entering the house. It was always eerily quiet in situations like this, the moon light streamed through windows casting shadows on everyday objects, transforming them into murders or tricking her brain into thinking she saw movement.

The creak of the basement stairs under her flats startled her but she ignored it and she pushed on, this un-sub wasn't the kind to revisit the crime scene, but it sure felt like he would. She clumsily turned on her phone flashlight and gasped in horror at the centrepiece of the room,"The...bull," she whispered breathlessly. Chey was very aware of immolation torture and it only confirmed her suspicions, but she had to be sure. Her stomach churned as she made her way towards the bull, her breathing got heavier as she realised what she was about to do. Griffiths took a mouthful of air before shining her torch inside the bronze opening and steadily twisting her body to see what was engraved in it, _'Thievery.'_

She thrust herself out of the animal and landed abruptly on the floor heaving, she frantically looked around the room with watery eyes trying to see the clue left for her. Chey shot up and searched the room for anything, anything that she could note down. Then she searched the kitchen, and the bathroom, she even went outside to look in the grass. There was nothing, no clue that could give her another lead, she doubted the forensics team would have moved it. It was usually drawn on a wall or hidden somewhere they wouldn't look. She stood in the back garden defeated. She almost couldn't believe it, the killer led her on the whole time, she shook her head and turned to climb over a fence to a neighbouring garden,"Maybe there were never any clues," she mused to herself while walking,"Maybe I was in over my head, I stopped dealing with murder a long time ag-oh?" one of the stone slabs on the edge of the garden rocked beneath her foot, eyeing it cautiously she knelt down to drag it out of it's position. Chey's brow furrowed at the dirt she'd exposed, a section of it seemed to be raised slightly, she covered her hand with her jumper sleeve and retrieved the foreign object. The message the un-sub was giving her almost felt too obvious, it was too easy. A lyre pendant attached to a silver chain, she shook away the dirt and brought it closer to her face, Apollo's lyre. It was no coincidence there was an instrument left at the murder scene of the man who taught her to play guitar.

Chey shoved the jewellery into her jean pocket and began replacing the concrete slab when she heard a leafy crunch, she forced her body not to react and moved the slab slower. It was definitely coming from behind her, she steadied her breathing and stayed in her position on the floor. As her attacker came closer she could tell by the heaviness of his steps and the time taken between each stride that he was tall, she could use that to her advantage. She spun around and kicked his legs out from under him and used that momentum to jump on his back once he was grounded, twisting his arm between his shoulder blades, her knees dug directly into the back of his,"Hotch!" a tall man appeared from inside the house with a gun pointed at Chey,

"FBI, let go of him," it took a second for his words to register in her head, not only had she been caught, but she'd assaulted a possible FBI agent. Both of which were illegal,

"Oh fuck-God I'm-I'm sorry," she lifted her body from the man she attacked, careful not to apply anymore pressure to his joints and kicked his gun towards him. Maybe it would get her some brownie points, he snatched it up quickly and scrambled to Hotch's side, he was muscular, they both were. Chey's eyes focused on the gun pointed at her, and then she looked Hotch in the eye, he wouldn't shoot...probably,

"Chey Griffiths?" His voice wasn't questioning, there was no way they would've known she was in the house, even if someone called the police it would've taken them longer to get there. They knew she would go there and they used it,

"Uh...yeah?" She knew there was no way she could talk her way out of this, feigning innocence got her no where,

"You're under arrest for obstruction of justice and assaulting an FBI agent," he lowered his gun and sauntered over to her to grab her arm and pull her through the house towards the black SUV,

"Would you believe me if I said I got lost?" the hopeful tone in her voice did little to move his stoic expression,"Damn okay,"

The station was buzzing with activity, it seemed especially packed, and yet the officers still had time to stare and whisper. They were all the same. It was a weird feeling, she'd seen criminals being brought into police stations, at one point she helped bring them in. But there she was in all her glory, being guided through the mass of desks not as a consultant or witness, but as an offender. It was truly ironic to her that she was trying to solve the murders, even though she may have broken a few laws, and was still being escorted by _two_ FBI agents to an interrogation room. They'd taken her bag too, it had everything, her research, keys, purse.

They sat her down in the small grey room directly in the view of a one way mirror. She'd say it was for their own sick entertainment if she didn't know better. The only solace she had was that all of her notes were written in Welsh, if they wanted the contents they'd have to talk to her. Chey rested her head on the table in front of her and sighed, she knew they were watching. And she knew she wasn't giving them any signs she was a psychopath, she was just resting.

After half an hour Chey lifted her head and stared into the mirror, by now they were surely looking at her book,"Hey," She began and immediately regretted her wording, what kind of person starts a conversation with the FBI like that?"Assuming you've seen my notes, I'd consider translating them if you asked," she was still slouched over the table and when no reply came, she placed her head back and closed her eyes, considering what to say next,"I guarantee I know more than you," still no reply. She stretched her arms over the length of the table and kept them there, confident they'd talk to her eventually.

The door was slowly pushed open and she sat up, it was the lean Doctor that came to her house a few days previously. He was wearing grey suit bottoms and a purple button up shirt with a black tie, she was willing to admit he didn't look half bad looking. He sat down opposite her and handed her book over, it had a plain brown cover and sticky notes with coloured tabs poking out from the pages,"Dr. Griffiths," he nodded in greeting and set down a file titled 'Greek Torturer' next to her, she eyed it for a moment before picking it up to examine it,

"Dr. Reid," She replied with similar respect,"Oh wow, you guys gave him a name," Chey said mindlessly as she opened the file. She took out pictures of the bodies and the pathology report, Spencer watched, almost impressed as she whipped out the pen attached to the inside cover of the book and began adding to her notes with intense concentration. She would whisper to herself every few minutes, trying to put the pieces together. Then she stopped and stared at the autopsy report for 'David Smith,' the first victim who happened to be crucified, her head snapped up and she looked Spencer in the eye,"This doesn't make sense," she circled a paragraph on the paper and twisted it to Reid,"The M.E said David Smith died quickly with an executioner style gunshot but...in Athens the Crucifixion was intended to be excruciating for vicious criminals," Spencer's eyes narrowed as he read through the report again,

"Then why did the un-sub kill him before he could inflict maximum damage?" He looked up to meet her eye and she flicked through her notes quickly to get back to Smith's pages,

"At the crime scene I may or may not have been to there wasn't as much blood as there would be if it was done like the Greeks did it, the un-sub couldn't go through with it," she paused and flicked forward a couple pages,"He's careful and can wait between kills but...he's a novice at best, he has the intelligence to commit these crimes but not the strength needed for something like this," she stared at Reid for a reaction, but he was almost speechless. Someone with no recorded detective work was able to deduce a key element of the crime scene before he could, she was about to continue when Hotch opened the door and leaned through apprehensively,

"Reid, get Dr. Griffiths to the conference room, I think she's willing to cooperate now."


	3. Chapter 3

"First of all, _Hotch_ ," Chey said with malice as she settled into the generic conference room cleared for the BAU,"I never said I wouldn't cooperate, _you_ didn't ask."

"Actually,"Spencer butted in with a smug gaze,"you withheld information from us, therefore not cooperating," Griffiths gave him a dirty look,

"Fucking doctors," she muttered under her breath and with a hefty glare, she spread the case file and her notes on the oak wood table and regained her composure,"I'll start from the beginning," Chey rubbed her eyes with both hands,"The first victim, David Smith, I knew him when I was still back in Wales. He was my father's colleague he uh...made certain _advances_ towards him. Safe to say they cut ties after that an-"

"Wait so he was gay?" Rossi interrupted,"But he was married to a woman for 30 years,"

"Yeah...it happens I guess,"she waved her hand dismissively and continued,"Beside the point, he was willing to commit adultery with my father. Then was found crucified with a lightening bolt carved into his forehead and while I appreciate the Harry Potter reference, that's Zeus' sign and he was a _bit_ of a cheater," She picked up the second victim's photo,"Then there were two, Declan Gill, the forced suicide. Typically reserved for people the court respected, and he taught me taekwondo. And the last one, Stephen Jennings, was my music teacher,"She reached into her back pocket for the necklace and placed it on his picture,"I found this outside, it's Apollo's lyre but..." Chey trailed off slightly realising something didn't fit in with the crime, he was no thief. He was one of the most straight laced men she knew,

"What about the word 'Thievery' inside the bull?" Reid pondered while focused on the woman in question,

"I...I don't know, he never stole from me, or my parents. He was a good guy," Chey closed her book and glanced around the cosy room, allowing the team time to realise that the link between the victims wasn't knowledge, it was her. She'd racked her brain for who it could be, possibly someone from her childhood? How else would they know these men were in her lives, or it could be someone with exceptional sleuthing skills. Either way she was the cause for their early demise and she couldn't shake a feeling like that. Hotch stepped forward, noticing the guilt-ridden look on her face,

"You can't blame yourself, you didn't kill these men," his hand rested on her shoulder in an attempt at reassurance. Logically, she knew he was right, but she refused to completely remove herself from the blame,"For the un-sub to know about the victim's connections to you he must've been in your life at the same time they were," Chey tore her gaze away from the wall and stared him in the eye,"Do you have any idea who could've done this?" she almost scoffed, did he think she was sitting around doing nothing the past two days? All she thought about were possible culprits, no one fit the bill. She went through her parent's old colleagues, friends and even staff members, and then people in her own life. She was careful who she associated with, of course she wouldn't befriend a murderous psychopath, but she humoured him,

"There was never any sign of forced entry, so it's probable the victims," the doctor cringed slightly at the label, they were more than victims to her,"Knew their attacker, and the detail of the crime speaks to a single un-sub. No one I can think of in my past is capable of even comprehending these murders, it's dispica-" the tone of Spencer's phone cut her rant short, he answered it and Chey noticed it was an older model,

"Garcia, I'm putting you on speaker," he set the phone down on the table at the centre of the room,

"Thanks Boy Wonder, I've done some digging into our professor's past and despite the file block you'll never guess what Momma found," when no reply came the tapping of her mechanical keyboard slowly came to a halt,"She's there isn't she?" Griffiths let a slight smirk grace her lips and Derek noticed,

"I don't think she minds babygirl,"

"Do all the digging you want Wonder Woman," she chuckled, mocking her nickname for Reid and slightly surprised at how the joking atmosphere helped settle her nerves,

"Oh, what a doll," she blissfully sighed,"Okay so it turns out, when Chey was 7 her parents filed a restraining order against a 16 year old 'Corbin Foster' for stalking her home after school for several months, and eventually making advances towards her. Geez they start out young, I'll keep digging, Garcia out!" the phone screen went blank and Chey tugged at her lip, trying to process the information. Corbin was a decaying memory, she only saw him a few times before he vanished from her life, she barely gave him a passing thought. Chey was only vaguely aware of the circumstances surrounding him, but she was sure he didn't have the skill to pull off a stunt like this,

"Doctor," Spencer began,

"Oh please call me Chey, we're in the middle of three murders don't be so formal,"

"Oh, alright then, Chey," he was slightly thrown by her demeanour, sure she felt guilty but she was too calm for this to be her first time involved in a case like this,"How much do you know about Corbin?" she shrugged,

"About as much as any 7 year old would remember, barely anything. My parents thankfully kept me out of the matter," Spencer's phone buzzed with the suspects address and he rushed to it immediately,

"He only lives three miles away in the comfort zone," Hotch nodded to the other agents who quickly paced out of their command centre to grab their gear, he paused in the doorway before Spencer and turned,

"Reid stay here with Chey, see if you can find out anything else," Spencer's shoulders slumped, he liked going into suspect's houses, the danger gave him a thrill. But unwilling to disobey orders he retracted to his transparent marker board littered with maps and pictures. Chey stood in her previous position, stunned at how quickly they'd jumped on their lead. It was a fast paced job apparently. The noise of the local police filtered through the open door to ease the silence between the two, she was never good with starting conversations, so she didn't. Griffiths meandered across the room to get a better look at the board, it was all the same hand writing. There was even mathematical problems solved with easily scribble on top of each other, it made her head spin. Whoever had the capacity to do that was a genius.

Spencer caught her reading through his work with admiration and felt pride fill his body, someone as smart as her was having trouble understanding a problem he did in a minute,"Who did this?" she questioned to herself while not taking her eyes from it, it was a foreign feeling to not understand something completely,

"Uh, I did, actually. I used it to help narrow down the comfort zone of the un-sub," he pushed back a strand of his hair as Chey turned to face him fully, he was a lot taller than her and it was obvious she kept an acceptable distance between them, Spencer concluded she was a mysophobe, or maybe had personal space issues,

"Its...amazing. Really. An interesting choice of formulae," she praised with a small smile at his bashful look, it was one thing to be called smart by his peers, but to be complemented by someone on his level was so much more. He fiddled with the marker in his hand ,

"Thanks, you know I read your disquisition on microchip implants in the brain to help stop the decay of dementia and I was enthralled," once he heard about the good doctor he did his best to read up on her as much as he could, which wasn't hard considering his ability. He was amazed at her proposals on mental illness and her influence in the medical field astounded him,

"Oh you're flattering me, some people thought inserting a chip into someone's hippocampus was unethical, but we'll see how they feel when their brain tissue deteriorates," the two shared a small chuckle and turned back to their notes in comfortable silence.

/

 _(Appreciate the support on this story and thank you tannerose5, hopefully it'll get more gruesome.)_


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